H78 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION C. 



Section C— GEOLOGY. 

 President of the Section: Professor W. S. Boulton, D.Sc, F.G.S. 



WEDNESDAY, SEPT EM HER 6. 



Tlie President delivered the following Address : — 



WHE>f I came to the serious consideration of a subject for this Address, two 

 dominant thoughts emerged : the first, that we should be assembled here in New- 

 castle-on-Tyne, the heart of a great industrial community, where coal, the very 

 life-blood of industry, has been raised for more than three centuries in ever- 

 increasing amount — and of all minerals which our science has helped us to win 

 from the earth for man's comfort and use. coal must a.ssuredly take pride of 

 place. My second thought was a reminder not of strenuous and peaceful 

 achievement in the past, but of the fateful present and the grim and stressful 

 future. 



Those of us who have closely followed the opinions of the average educated 

 rnan since the opening of the wnr must have been profoundly impressed witli 

 tlie revolution taking .shape in his mind as to the attitude of the Government 

 and the .State towards science, and especially as to the relation of science to our 

 industry and commerce. We now realise that this country, this Empire, has 

 for the future vastly greater possiliilities in the development and utilisation of 

 its natural and industrial resources than in the past ; that as far as possible it 

 is imperative for our i^rogress and safety that we become more self-contained, 

 and less dependent upon the foreigner for the absolute necessities for our manu- 

 factures and industry. Chemists, engineers, and metallurgists have becoiue 

 keenly exercised as regards the application of their respective sciences, not 

 only to the making of munitions of war, but to the advancement of industry 

 after tlie war. 



In these grave questionings, in this general stock-taking of science in its 

 relation to industry and the State, what of our own particular science? Will 

 geology take its rightful share in ministering to our material wants and in 

 furthering the Empire's needs? 



It has been the custom for the President of this Section to d^eal with some 

 large, outstanding question of theoretic interest, as in the luminous and eloquent 

 Address by Professor Cole last year. On this occasion I wish to dieal with 

 the present outlook of Economic Geology, more especially in this country. 



If we attempt to compare the growth of applied geology in Britain with 

 that, say, in the United States of America, or even in our great self-governing 

 Dominions, or to appraise the knowledge of, and respect for, the facts and prin- 

 ciples of geology as directly applicable to industry in these countries and in our 

 own, or to compare the respective literatures on th(! subject, I think we shall 

 have to confess that we have laggedi far behind the position we ought by right 

 of tradition and opportunities now to occupy. The vast natural resources of 

 the countries I have named have doubtless stimulated a corresponding effort in 

 their profitable development. But making due allowance for the fact thai 



